McElwain lingered a little bit longer than most opposing coaches do after a loss at Bryant-Denny Stadium. He made a point to find the last starting quarterback he coached at Alabama, AJ McCarron.

"I had to catch myself a little bit," McElwain said after the Crimson Tide's 31-6 win. "Those guys meant a lot to me. I
loved them and I'm just so proud of them. Guys like Kenny (Bell), AJ, Christion (Jones), and on and on - they were a big part of
my life. I owe a lot to them, and I'm proud to be able to say I was
their coach at one time."

Though the Rams fell to 1-3, McElwain said he was "very proud" of how his team performed, particularly on defense. A unit that surrendered 41 points to Colorado and 30 points to Tulsa limited Alabama to just 17 through three quarters until the Crimson Tide added two touchdowns in the fourth.

"We challenged our guys to come in here and go toe-to-toe," McElwain said. "I think the
guys on the other sideline have earned some respect for Colorado State
Rams and how hard we played the game."

Colorado State quarterback Garrett Grayson said McElwain's halftime speech focused on the fact that the Rams, down 17-0 at the time, were playing with "the No. 1 team in the country."

"Obviously we came out that first half, and maybe some guys had the
jitters, but for the most part after those first couple of series that
we could play with these guys," Grayson said. "There was nothing to be afraid of. We
know that they are a good team and we want to give them their respect."